Declan Bogue Reports from Croke Park

Cuala (Dublin) 3-14

Errigal Ciaran (Tyrone) 1-16

THE DAY BELONGED to Con O’Callaghan and Cuala.

Personal achievement married with the seemingly impossible task of breaking out and winning their first ever Dublin title last October.

From there, they never stopped until they had gobbled up a Leinster title and now, the Andy Merrigan Cup today.

There was so much to compare their performance with the Dublin county team in their recent heights of the last decade. In the first half they forced the issue and played the game at a higher tempo on a pristine pitch than Errigal Ciaran might have expected.

So much credit must go to manager Austin O’Malley. Their philosophy was a huge gamble that brought incredible returns.

Swamping them on their own kickout, they must have been surprised at the lack of chasers for their runners pouring out of their defence.

They left Eoghan O’Callaghan alone on his own against Darragh Canavan. They did a lot of things you might not expect to be on the checklist for beating Errigal Ciaran but they made it work.

Cuala's James Power and Luke Keating lift the trophy. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO

Playing on the front foot and pushing up on Darragh McAnenly’s kickouts from the first go, they had a goal after five minutes after Peter Harte was dispossessed and Cal Doran was on the end of a flowing move to finish neatly.

The second goal arrived on 13 minutes. An injection of pace from the impressive Peader Ó Cofaigh Byrne helped along a move when Luke Keating transferred to the ongoing David O’Dowd who applied a neat finish to the net.

The third came after Con O’Callaghan couldn’t be contained and poked through a ball to Ó Cofaigh Byrne who finished soccer style.

Errigal’s chances were not helped by the withdrawal of Darragh Canavan after an injury, and after that, their chances appeared to be evaporated. Canavan sustained what appeared to be an accidental knee to the head. At first, physio Meabh Canavan had a look and soon shot a worried glance at manager Enda McGinley, standing just yards away.

A physio himself, McGinley went over and crouched down. It was clear that the captain’s day was over.

ErrigaL Ciarán's Niall Kelly, Ben McDonnell and Odhran Robinson dejected after the game. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO

While McGinley walked Canavan into the dressing rooms, they must have heard another big cheer as the third goal went in. It might have taken a dinked finish from Ó Cofaigh Byrne, the ultimate ‘nice touch for a big man’, but it was the bull strength of Con O’Callaghan to scatter both Niall Kelly and Cormac Quinn as he punched a path through the centre of the defence before releasing the ball at the perfect time.

From, this, Errigal hit four of the next five points to close out the half. It felt gone.

However, a spell-binding performance in the second half from Peter Harte brought them right back into it.

Once again, they hit four of the next five points and added another.

And then Thomas Canavan flighted a ball into Harte, by now closer to goal. He imposed himself on David O’Dowd and made his way on the angle before letting fly from 20 metres into the far goal stanchion.

🚨🚨GOAL! WATCH THIS 🚨🚨

Show some Harte! What a finish by Peter!@ErrigalCiaran1 @AIBGAA #GAA Football Senior Club Final#GAANOW pic.twitter.com/5v8mk0vAuc

— The GAA (@officialgaa) January 19, 2025

Pushing up now on Ryan Scollard’s kickout they gained far more possession and with Thomas Canavan coming into the game and shooting from acute angles they found themselves just three points adrift with three minutes to go. If you are into that sort of thing, they ‘won’ the second half 1-11 to 0-5.

However, the damage was just too much with Conor Groarke adding the final point after being set up by Con O’Callaghan, who now joins Alan Kerins and eleven St Finbarr’s players, including Jimmy Barry-Murphy, as the only players to win All-Ireland senior club titles in two codes.

Scorers for Cuala: Con O’Callaghan 0-5 (0-2f, 0-1 ’45), David O’Dowd 1-1, Peader Ó Cofaigh Byrne 1-1, Cal Doran 1-0, Luke Keating 0-3 (0-2f), Niall O’Callaghan 0-2, Peter Duffy, Conor Groarke 0-1 each.

Scorers for Errigal Ciaran: Thomas Canavan 0-6 (4f), Peter Harte 1-2, Ruairí Canavan 0-3 (2f), Ciarán McGinley, Joe Oguz, Odhran Robinson, Mark Kavanagh, Padraig McGirr 0-1 each.

Cuala

1. Ryan Scollard

2. Danny Conroy, 3. Michael Fitzsimons, 4. Eoghan O’Callaghan

5. Eoin Kennedy, 6. Charlie McMorrow, 7. David O’Dowd

8. Peader Ó Cofaigh Byrne, 9. Peter Duffy

23. Cillian Dunne, 11. Conor O’Brien, 12. Cal Doran

13. Luke Keating, 14. Niall O’Callaghan, 15. Con O’Callaghan

Subs:

• 21. Conor Groarke for O’Brien (42)
• 19. Michael Conroy for Dunne (48)
• 20. Cathal Ó Giolláin for Danny Conroy (54)

Errigal Ciaran

1. Darragh McAnenly

2. Ciaran Quinn, 3. Aidan McCrory, 4. Cormac Quinn

5. Peter Óg McCartan, 6. Niall Kelly, 7. Tiarnán Colhoun

8. Ben McDonnell, 9. Joe Oguz

10. Peter Harte, 11. Thomas Canavan, 12. Ciaran McGinley

13. Odhran Robinson, 14. Darragh Canavan, 15. Ruairí Canavan

Subs:

• 22. Mark Kavanagh for Darragh Canavan (inj) (20)
• 21. Eoin Kelly for McGinley (47)
• 24. Padraig McGirr for Robinson (52)

Referee: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon)